About a third of American adults take some type of
multivitamin on a regular basis. In nearly every case,
the goal is better health, even though there is no
firm evidence to support this hope. The absence of
benefit is one thing, but the presence of harm is another:
A 2007 report in the Journal of the National Cancer
Institute concluded that there was an increased prostate
cancer risk among men using multivitamins, reports
the October 2007 issue of Harvard Men’s Health
Watch.
When scientists further explored this finding, they
found no link between multivitamin use and the risk
of developing localized prostate cancer. But they did
find that men who take multivitamins more than once
a day were 32% are more likely to develop advanced
prostate cancer and 98% more likely to die from the
disease.
However, the study had its limitations. For example,
it was not designed to determine whether multivitamins
actually caused cancer; it did not ascertain which
multivitamins were taken; and the results failed to
establish a relationship between dose and response.
Moreover, other studies have shown no connection between
prostate cancer and multivitamins. Faced with this
contradictory information, scientists know they need
more studies, and several are already under way.
Meanwhile, what should you do? Harvard Men’s
Health Watch suggests that a good diet and other lifestyle
changes may help lower your prostate cancer risk. As
for vitamins, the new study cautions against excessive
multivitamin use, but it does not show harm from a
daily supplement that sticks to the recommended daily
amounts of the standard vitamins. Above all, the new
study adds to the growing body of evidence that tells
us not to count on supplements.
Also in this issue:
Related
Information
Four
quarterly issues
